Blind to it Before
by Karista N
Summary: Overhauled and updating once more! After his return to Konoha, Naruto's first attempt at going after Sasuke results in a lifealtering injury. When Sakura is appointed to help in his recovery, how will they work together? MF, SakuNaru
1. Darkest Just Before Dawn

Title: Blind To It Before  
Rating: R (for now)  
Warnings: None yet

Notes: Well, after a year of sitting on the back burner, I've decided to overhaul this one. I had a moment of clarity and realized that I was planning on making lemons out of a bunch of 12 year olds, and I value the fact that I'm not going THAT far into hell. Likewise, when this was started, we were only as far as the whole "they just kidnapped Sasuke" debacle, and I had no clue how the advancements would go. So, now that we're all a little more seasoned in the world of Naruto, and I've aged the characters properly (therefore avoiding the loli/shota circle of hell)...let us revisit and continue the tale, shall we?

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Chapter 1 - Darkest Just Before Dawn

For decades upon decades, Konoha's livelihood had depended on the success of their shinobi and the contractual "strength for hire" program that brought in not only revenue, but respect as well.

...at least until the Sound Village showed up.

After Orochimaru's unsuccessful attack on Konoha, and the rash of smaller wars that had broken out among other villages, Konoha's forces were stretched thin, causing them to turn out ranks of more experienced ninja quicker than in the past. The next Chuunin exams could never come fast enough, as Jounin were constantly in short staff. It was soon that mission classifications started to become lax, letting less experienced shinobi take on tougher jobs. Normally, this would cause quite a few problems, but this was no ordinary village of shinobi, this was Konohagakure, the hidden pride and strength of Fire Country. There was no village that opposed them in power, until that damned Sound showed up.

With the new outbreaks of violence and the rise in shinobi service requests, Konoha had its hands full with missions that often spanned far beyond its own borders, causing their teams to travel several additional days to complete a job. It was during these times that a cell could be found most vulnerable, especially on the journey home. Successful missions often meant fatigued shinobi, or overly confident ones, and in the worse cases, both. It was always then that the Sound decided to strike. Easy pickings, they would assume, and take out a member or two, at times even the whole team was wiped out. The Chuunin causalities were high in this area, and the Jounin were not without their losses. At first it seemed just like a few inexperienced Chuunin were the ones to meet this sad fate, but when a pair of Jounin showed up dead at the gates one day, Konoha knew that the Sound was starting to get desperate to carve their niche in the ninja villages.

Seeing the fallen Jounin carried through the streets on medical stretchers wasn't enough to deter one Uzamaki Naruto from rushing to the city gates in anticipation of his next mission. He greeted the other members of his cell, Hinata, Shikamaru and Lee, who had already assembled there twenty minutes prior. It seemed as if Naruto had picked up a bit of Kakashi's habit during their early years.

"Oi! Shikamaru! Let's get going!" he yelled. Apparently two and a half years of training in what was assumed to be solitude, save Jiraiya of course, did little to quiet the boisterous ninja.

"Tch. You're 20 minutes late and you're yelling at me to get started? Remember who's the captain here, Genin." Shikamaru retorted, already troubled by his late arriving teammate.

"Aw jeez, do you have to bring that up again?" Naruto whined, scratching the back of his head as they walked through the gates. "As soon as that next exam is here I'll be a Chuunin in no time, then we'll see who's captaining squads!"

Hinata giggled a bit as Lee launched into a dramatic dialogue on the wonders of youth and ambition, a pep talk Naruto didn't need and Shikamaru didn't want to hear for the billionth time. The team walked off at a leisurely pace until the gates of Konoha were out of sight, then broke into a full on run toward their destination of Grass Country where they would be escorting a diplomat back to Konoha. It had become a ritual of sorts for their generation, to walk slowly until Konoha was out of sight, then switch into travel speed. No one ever mentioned why, but they all knew the longer they could still see their beloved village, the better, as any mission they left it for could very well be their last.

It was evening when they reached the halfway point, and it was evening when they struck. None of the four-man team had expected being attacked by the Sound assassins while they were on their way to the mission, their pattern so far had been to strike on the return trip when the team was noticeably weaker and more careless after a mission completed. It was during Hinata's watch that their presence was sensed, thanks to the Byakugan. How long they had been following was a mystery, but it was a detail forgotten as tents shuffled, kunai were tossed, and the battle began.

Lee was the first out, having just given his watch up and being the most alert of the three. He launched himself into a nearby tree and within moments a Sound ninja fell from the same spot he had disappeared to. Shikamaru, at a marked disadvantage due to the lack of moonlight to cast shadows for him to work with, decided to secure the fallen Sound-nin rather than risk a fresh fight. Naruto finally was rousted from his tent through the commotion and came out to see Hinata in the Juuken stance, facing off against two Sound-nin, while Lee had his hands full with another one. Shikamaru had secured his captive and was running off to assist Hinata when another Sound-nin ambushed him from above, sending him into a fight of his own. Naruto was about to rush out and help them when he heard the low sound of a tin bell, clanging just above and behind him.

Whirling around, there sat a solitary Sound-nin, holding a small bell on a string much like Kakashi had used during their first training sessions. She giggled, swinging it back and forth as she watched her comrades attack the Konoha ninja and fall one by one. Naruto yelled up at her, but her attention never wavered from the battle beyond, and that annoyed him to no end. He vaulted up into the tree and crouched next to her,

"Hey, you realize I'm part of that team you're attacking, right? Aren't you gonna fight me too?"

She laughed, shrill and piercing, "You don't concern me...none of you do."

He growled, flipping back into an adjacent tree and creating two clones. He launched one at her in a normal taijutsu assault while the second worked with him to perform a rasengan charge when she was caught off guard. What he didn't expect was to be caught off guard himself, as the bell suddenly got louder and more rapid in its ringing. The clones dissipated before they could even be of any use and Naruto fell to the ground clutching his ears. She approached slowly, standing a branch away, swinging the bell until it was a blur in the air. The pain and pressure between his ears was becoming unbearable and he clawed at them in an attempt to open them and relieve it, but only injured himself further. His eyes clamped shut as the pressure moved from his ears to deeper within his skull, creating an intense heat. Breath came in pants, and suddenly, there was nothing.

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A not uncommon sight was to see teams return from missions carrying one of their own. Naruto was carried in on the shoulders of a rather exhausted Shikamaru and Lee and placed in the hospital's receiving area. It didn't take long for the medical staff to place him on a stretcher and take him into the triage room for examination, and moments later he was being restrained to a bed for analysis. A nurse approached the bed and watched as his eyes remained clamped shut, teeth gritted in a scowl as he fought his restraints. She moved her hands over his chest and slowly up to his temples where she began to form the seals for an illusionary jutsu. Suddenly, his body relaxed as the technique wove its way into his mind and calmed his thoughts and pain.

With her patient sedated, Sakura could work without fear of further injury to him or herself. Her hands fumbled in her nurses' apron for the small pen light she kept on hand and flicked it on. Prying an eyelid open, she aimed the beam into his eye to find the sky blue pupil clouded over with a blank white-ish cloud. The pupil, if it was even there anymore, made no reaction to the bright light being shone on it. Her fingers released the lid and turned off the light, flipping it over to scribble a few notes on her chart. As she moved on to clean the blood and dirt from the familiar blonde hair, she couldn't help but worry about the trouble he must have gone through during the mission.

She stood to leave, having dressed his wounds, set a broken leg back in place, and cleaned away the traces of battle. Her departure was cut short by his escape from her illusionary technique and the faint whisper of her name.

"Sakura-chan..."

She turned back, giving him one of her best false smiles, "Naruto-kun, you're awake I see. Are you in any pain?"

He shifted a bit, eyes still clamped shut, "Where am I?"

"In the hospital, open your eyes, silly," she replied, giggling slightly in relief that he was still mentally stable.

"It won't do any good, but..." he trailed off as blank pupils stared up at her, reacting to nothing. "Shikamaru and Lee had to carry me back here. I...they, the Sound Nin...some kind of nerve melting technique he said."

She sat back down beside him, hand wavering before his listless eyes. "Naruto-kun, can you see me at all?" He shook his head in reply. "I'm going to report this to Tsunade-sama, don't worry about it for now. If anyone can fix it, she can. You just rest now and we can talk later. What can I bring you back to eat? You must be hungry, right?"

He blinked unseeing eyes up at her and then managed a grin, "Ramen!" he yelled, regaining a bit of his trademark loudness. All she could do was offer him a genuine smile unseen by his eyes, a slight squeeze of a hand, and the faint smell of her perfume as she walked out of the room.  
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Just setting the tone for now, I'm only going to label this one R as I'm not sure how strong I'll go on the eventual lemon. I'll try to update as diligently as I can, promise! Reviews are highly welcomed; they're the fuel to my writing fire.


	2. The Flicker of Hope

Title: Blind To It Before  
Rating: R (for now)  
Warnings: None yet 

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Chapter 2 √ The Flicker of Hope

It was another complicated medical report, ranking right along the infamous Rock Lee in difficulty and severity, which sat upon the Hokage's desk that day. Tsunade sighed as she closed the cover, turning to her bookshelf to begin searching for resources on the optic nerve system. At first it was the failure of the mission that bothered her; they thought they had the Sound figured out when they noticed they only attacked on return missions. However, with this attack bringing down one of the village's finest without any sort of new information to go by, she was even more disturbed. The one Sound-nin they had managed to detain and return to the village was of little use to them as he remained tight-lipped about the technique his comrade had used against Naruto. Part of her mind figured he didn't even know the particulars of the bell's effects himself, but the rational part of her mind reminded her that this was Sound, and Sound was full of cruel bastards if nothing else. No amount of interrogation would pry any sort of information from his filthy mouth, and so he was most likely a candidate for the underground detention cells. Soon after the reports from both the hospital and Morino Ibiki were finished, she summoned Shizune in to request a warm bottle of sake and opened a window to the cool night air. She could tell it was going to be a long night, especially when an unexpected knock came upon her office door.

"Come in," she muttered, as she thumbed through a medical journal, a dish of sake at her lips. Sakura walked in and seated herself in a nearby armchair on the other side of the desk. "I assume you're here to get my opinion on his condition, right?" Tsunade questioned, not taking her eyes from the books that lay open before her. Sakura nodded, removing her nurse's hat and fidgeting with it nervously.

"I need to know how to help him. He just got back to Konoha after two and a half years...and to have his first mission be such a failure. I just feel..."

"There is no room for self-imposed guilt in the life of a Medic-nin." Tsunade scolded, still intent on the journal in her hands. "You had no means to prevent what happened to him. What you need to concentrate on now is how to help him."

Sakura nodded, knowing full well her mentor was right as usual. "And what is it that I can do for him now? Tell me, just what did they do to his eyes?"

Tsunade sighed, running a hand back through her hair, "He's blind, Sakura. They dissolved the nerves that attach to his eyes, completely disrupting his vision. It's a high-level technique, something that must have come from that Kabuto boy. Only a medic-nin could have the precision to focus energy and pinpoint the optic nerves without any other damages."

Sakura's face relaxed a bit, "So it's just temporary right? You can just re-grow the cells like we did with the hole in Neji's shoulder."

The Hokage shook her head, "If it were that simple, I would be doing it right now, would I not? Rather than just cutting the nerves, it's as if they melted the entire optical connection to his eyes. Ask him what he remembers from what happened right before he lost vision, I'd bet money that he heard an ear-piercing sound and then things went black. Their group is notorious for using sound waves in the disruption of the body tissues."

"So, what does this mean for Naruto? Is there any hope?"

A voice from the doorway answered Sakura's question. "There's always hope; you're talking to Tsunade-hime. She may be legendary sucker, but she's a genius when it comes to medical things. If she can fix Lee, she can fix Naruto."

"Jiraiya, don't put so much of a title on me." Tsunade scoffed, ignoring her fellow Sanin's unannounced presence in her office. "But he is right about one thing, there's always hope, just as it was with Lee. If I can increase the survival percentage of an operation, I can surely try to return his sight. For now, though, I think what he needs is a good friend to take care of him. It's one thing to be recovering from injuries, but to do so completely blind has to be frightening. For this reason, I'm appointing you as his personal nurse, Sakura. You are to attend to him full time, not just for medical support, but emotional as well."

She winced at this new assignment, she was still getting used to having Naruto back in her life. Not in a bad way, she had missed her boisterous teammate immensely during their nearly three year separation. But she was still getting used to his matured presence, not just mentally but physically as well. Plus in all her medical training she had never been tied to any one patient for a long term. Personal care nurses were reserved for the wealthy and usually elderly, definitely not the type of patients Sakura preferred to deal with. ⌠Tsunade-sama, with all due respect, I think Naruto would benefit more from a more experienced nurse taking care of him. I'm more used to general practice, and to have someone so close to him may be a bit embarrassing, and-"

"And what? Sakura, you know as well as I that he'd appreciate the full attention of no girl on the staff besides you. You pity the fact that this happened? Then this is your way to make it up to him. From this day on, you will be by his side constantly. I'll give you some books on sensory loss that will help you help Naruto. With time, he can retrain himself to work without vision. But for these first few weeks, you're going to be his eyes. While you attend to him emotionally, I'll work on his physical condition. Now, the next time you'll be in this office will be when you bring him to me because I've found an answer, correct?"

Sakura nodded, silently praising Tsunade's confidence in both Sakura's abilities and her own. She turned and left, nodding politely to Jiraiya, who couldn't help but catch an eyeful of the form-fitting nurse's outfit and give an approving lecherous grin toward her backside. It wasn't until the empty sake bottle was flung at his head that his wandering eyes turned back into the office.

"So, confident we'll fix this little turn of events, are we?" he chided, rubbing the side of his head where the bottle caught him. "I'd wager to say you're so confident that you're trying to play matchmaker on top of this ordeal."

Tsunade glared at him from behind another medical journal, "I'm sure you didn't come here just to rouse my anger. State your business or get lost."

Jiraiya grinned and tossed a scroll at her, "I heard about the boy's condition and figured this might help. A little something I picked up during my travels."

She opened the scroll and scanned its contents, pausing to look at him for a second before she rolled it up and tossed it back. "He's your student now, I'm the Hokage, not a teacher."

He laughed, placing the scroll back into his pocket, "I figured you'd say something along those lines. I'll teach it to him in time, but for now, I think I'll enjoy watching how those two fair working together. From what I heard from Kakashi, it's a love-hate relationship that's going to either end in love or hate." He placed his palms on Tsunade's desk and leaned in close, smelling the traces of sake on her lips, "I think you're secretly hoping for the former." The perverted hermit pulled back quickly and exited the room before Tsunade could react and add another lump to his already injured head.


	3. Glowing Embers

Title: Blind To It Before Rating: R (for now)  
Warnings: None yet

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Chapter 3 √ Glowing Embers

Word spread quickly through the Konoha village of the latest team to fall victim to a Sound attack. Whispered rumors of deadly musical weapons, new chemical-based attacks, and even absurd stories of summoned acid-spitting lizards circulated throughout the gossip hot-spots. The wagging tongues got even worse when news spread that the attack's main victim was being placed under care of his own private nurse. The housewives and grandmothers of the village had a new local drama to watch unfold: the injured shinobi being nursed back to health by his childhood crush.

Hearing Sakura enter his room was always the highlight of his day, and the sound of squeaky wheelchair wheels excited him even more. "Naruto-kun," Sakura addressed him, trying to sound as natural and cheerful as she could, "you've been released. Time to go home!" She leaned in to help slide his leg, which was wrapped in a solid cast from the knee down, off the bed so he could get into the chair.

He turned his blank gaze toward the sound of her voice and gave her a puzzled look, as if he wanted to ask something but decided against it. The familiar grin spread across his face as he lifted his weight onto his good leg and allowed her to help guide his body into the wheelchair. "All right! I was getting sick of hanging around here, it's so boring! Now I can get back to my training, and eat ramen whenever I want, and before you know it I'll be back on missions!"

Sakura frowned as she turned the chair out the doorway, "Naruto-kun, you won't be doing any of that. Tsunade-sama has given strict orders that you are to rest and heal your leg at least before you resume training. And as for missions, Tsunade-sama said you're out of commission until we figure out how to restore your vision."

Naruto scowled, "There's no way I'm gonna let two and a half years of training go to waste! I don't need to be able to see to be a great ninja!"

The wheelchair stopped mid-hallway as Sakura walked around to stand before Naruto and lean down, staring him directly in his unseeing eyes. "You may not listen to Tsunade-sama, but you will listen to me." Her tone was cool, almost threatening, causing Naruto to gulp in fear. It took him a moment before he chuckled, and grinned up at her.

"You're right, Sakura-chan, but you can't keep an eye on me forever. As soon as I'm out of here and back home, I can do whatever I want! Maybe I'll stop at Ichiraku first..."

"I'm going home with you." Her words snapped him out of his planning, causing his mouth to hang open in a state of shock.

"S-Sakura-chan...y-y-you don't have to. I mean, thanks for the concern and all, but you've got a job here. And besides, I can take care of myself. And...um..." His stammering and rambling continued all the way to his apartment, stopping only when she unlocked his door with her own set of keys. The former bachelor's pad, was now clean and well arranged to accommodate his condition. The stacks of magazines, discarded cups of instant ramen, and other random tripping hazards had been cleared out to leave an easily navigable path throughout the entire apartment. "Sorry it's so messy..." he muttered, unaware she had been in there a day earlier to clean everything up.

Sakura giggled a little, "I did some cleaning before bringing you back. I can't very well report to Tsunade-sama that my first full-time patient got re-injured tripping on a pile of ramen bowls, can I?"

Her words caught him off guard again and he nearly fell trying to get out of the wheelchair. "A-are you serious, Sakura-chan? I mean, about taking care of me? You really don't have to, you know. See, I can manage to get around in here just fine!" He groped about blindly for the armchair that used to sit in his small living room, and had been relocated to the other side of the window.

She steered him in the right direction, forcing him to sit with a gentle shove of his shoulders. "Naruto-kun, I was assigned to you by Tsunade-sama herself, there is no arguing with her decision. For the next few weeks, I'll be helping you adjust to getting around without your eyes, as well as making sure you heal those injuries. And I mean it, NO TRAINING." He scowled again, fidgeting uncomfortably, remembering the kind of glare that most likely accompanied that tone of voice. As if she could read his mind, she replied to him again with that same nagging tone, "And if you think you can do it behind my back, think again. She assigned me to you full time."

This statement was the breaking point for Naruto; he broke out in a spastic display of stammering, incomplete words, and incoherent stuttering until finally he slumped over in his chair, panting for breath. When he calmed down a bit, he finally managed to speak in a complete sentence, "So, you're going to be...living here?"

She nodded in confirmation, then realized he couldn't see her and spoke up. "Yes, the hospital has prepared me for the arrangement. I've got medical supplies, as well as a budget for food and other living expenses for the rest of the month. Believe it or not, Naruto-kun, you've become a valuable asset to Konoha, and Tsunade-sama doesn't want to take any chances of losing you. She's working on finding a solution to your injury as we speak, and until she notifies me that she has succeeded, you're in my care. Got it?"

How could he say no? While his childhood crush on Sakura had pretty much faded to a great admiration and respect of the kunoichi, he was still elated that she would accept the Hokage's orders and personally take care of him. Still, there was a nagging voice in the back of his mind, not only warning him that this was a dig at his pride, having to be taken care of, but also that it could prove troublesome with the two of them living in such close quarters. Part of his anxiety over the latter issue was relieved as he heard her move to the bedroom and sit down on a bed that was obviously not his. Even in the short time he had been without sight, his other senses were already starting to compensate for the vision loss. The telltale squeak of his lumpy old mattress was absent as he realized she had sat down on a bed the hospital must've furnished for her.

The first day in the apartment was spent getting used to the new situation the two teammates found themselves in. Sakura helped Naruto navigate the new layout of the two small rooms as he slowly learned the nuances of his new arrangement. There were a few near trips and knees colliding with various objects, and his first trip to the bathroom was less than pleasant from Sakura's standpoint. He'd have a lot of training to do if he was going to have a shot at ever re-learning to hit the toilet bowl, let alone throw a shuriken straight.

Finally exhausted, Naruto collapsed on his bed, thankful for the welcoming squeak in its rusty old springs. "You sure this is okay for you, Sakura-chan?" he questioned, scratching absentmindedly at his cast, which he could tell was nearing the end of its use due to the intense itching.

She pulled his hand away to stop his scratching and handed him his crutch, "I think we did rather well for today and it's time for a bath."

Naruto's brain nearly shorted out from her suggestion and he was caught in another outbreak of stammering and freaking out. "B-but, Sakura-chan, w-we can't just go into the public baths together! I-I mean, what if someone sees us?"

She laughed and picked up the bucket containing their bath gear, "Well, for one, we are going to the hospital's baths, which are designed for these types of situations. And number two, I am a nurse, you are my patient, so there's nothing wrong with it and you WILL act that way, understood?" Even with the confidence in her tone, inside Sakura was dreading this part of her job. She knew full well Naruto couldn't see her, but the thought of being in the same bathing area at the same time was enough to set off warnings in her head. The thoughts that surfaced were quickly crushed by her constant reminding that this was her job as a medic-nin and Tsunade had trusted her to take care of every aspect of the job to the best of her abilities.

Naruto, meanwhile, had contemplated her words, turned various shades of red, and then calmed down and tried to put on his most normal facade as he limped along next to her. With one hand on his shoulder to guide him, many of the villagers on the street took notice and did begin concluding that the two were in fact a couple. Rumors had a nasty habit of spreading quickly through Konoha and within hours, it was nearly everyone's business that Naruto and Sakura were not only living together, but also apparently bathing together as well. The two most stunned by this turn of events were the infamous Rock Lee, whose infatuation with the pink-haired kunoichi had turned into a mutual friendship that still yearned for more, and Ino, the best friend-turned-rival who couldn't believe that Sakura had landed a boyfriend before she had.

As neighbors whispered to neighbors, Naruto and Sakura were blissfully unaware of the gossip surrounding them as they disrobed in the changing room of the hospital baths. Sakura was secured in a towel before noticing that Naruto was having an issue pulling his traditional orange pants off his cast-laden leg. She stooped down to help him, finally succeeding in leaving him in nothing but a cast and a pair of dark blue boxers. Blushing slightly, she handed him a towel and told him to call for her when he was ready.

Moments later, Naruto was seated on a bathing stool with the towel draped over his lap and a plastic bag tied over his leg. Sakura stood next to him, hesitant of discarding her towel at first until a few more waves of her hand before his unseeing eyes reassured her. Placing the towel aside, she sat next to him and handed him the shampoo bottle and placed a basin of cold water by his feet before attending to her own hair. Naruto fumbled around a bit but got his hair washed and rinsed before Sakura could finish with her own needs. She paused mid-wash to guide him to the location of the soap, which he managed to fumble with, drop and lose in a matter of seconds. He began groping about looking for the loose bar as she sighed and rinsed the lather from her hair. As she moved to retrieve the soap, his searching hand came in contact with her inner thigh, causing a scream, a slap, and a clatter of buckets and various bottles. Naruto recoiled, unaware of what just happened, only that he had touched something soft and as a result, now had a stinging pain on his left cheek.

She was near screaming and throwing her bucket at him when she came to her senses and remembered that he could not have seen what he was doing. Forgiving him this time, she apologized and resituated them, leaving the rest of the bathing session to be conducted in awkward silence. It wasn't until they reached the apartment that Naruto spoke up. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. Whatever I did, I didn't mean to, I swear."

She handed him his pajamas and began changing into her own, turning her back to him in learned modesty. "It's okay, I overreacted, I forgot that you can't see. We'll just have to be more careful next time." She crawled into her bed and turned out the light, "Good night, Naruto-kun."

He finished with buttoning his nightshirt and turned his head toward her side of the room, clenching the hand that had come in contact with her body that day. "Good night...Sakura-chan..." 


	4. Mood Lighting

Title: Blind To It Before Rating: R (for now)  
Warnings: None yet

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Chapter 4 √ Mood Lighting

Domestically, Sakura could hold her own. Having lived in a traditional family, she was well learned in the finer points of housewifery, which included cooking, sewing, and basic care of the opposite sex. Of course, these skills were until now mere thoughts for the future, and she never dreamed she'd be trying to recall anything her mother taught her for the day when she eventually landed a husband. Not that she was even considering getting married to Naruto. Not in the least. In fact, after three days of living with the Kyuubi of Konoha, in all his unpolished glory, she was starting to wonder how ANYONE could stand marrying someone who needed so much attention. Of course in her frustrated state she often forgot he was blind and recovering from a major battle, but this fact was only present in her mind when they were in their respective beds and for once, Naruto wasn't talking or fumbling over things.

It was the fourth night they had spent together and Sakura's eyes were focused on the darkened light fixture above their heads. Earlier that day, Naruto managed to trip over yet another piece of furniture, even thought Sakura could have sworn she moved everything to a non-hazardous state. His plummet to the ground managed to spill a glass of tea into the clean laundry basket she had just placed on the floor before folding. Another load of wash later, she found him once again using a kunai to scratch under the cast, no doubt creating fresh wounds that would get infected within days since they couldn't be properly cleaned. Luckily, the cast was coming off that next day and she could apply some disinfectant then, but she knew what kind of scrapes would probably be waiting for her underneath the plaster as he idly ran the blade between skin and cast.

"Naruto, how many times do I have to tell you not to do that? You get it off tomorrow, you can't hold out one more day?" she scolded, snatching the weapon from his hand. He scowled and muttered the obvious reply of "it itches" and sank deeper into the armchair. She shook her head and turned back to folding the laundry, washed for the second time that day. He was starting to act like a spoiled 6-year-old, pouting and moping around. It was only later that night, when he was peacefully sleeping and not causing trouble, that she realized it was sheer boredom that was causing him to be in such a bratty mood. Knowing his cast came off in the morning caused a light to go off in Sakura's head. She'd raise his spirits by taking him out to the training grounds and getting in a light round of sparring to celebrate getting Naruto back on his feet. Before drifting off to sleep for the night, she made a mental note to prepare a small picnic for the upcoming afternoon.

The next day was thankfully a great one for training; blue skies, a light breeze, and not a sign of rain to be found. It was the perfect type of weather to further invigorate a certain shinobi who had just gotten his cast removed and a doctors clearance to resume training. Naruto bounded through the streets, bumping into passersby, crates, and whatever else happened to be lying in his path on the way home, as a slightly irritated Sakura chased after him. "Naruto! Get back here and walk with me! It's dangerous to be running around like that!"

He turned around as he jogged, grinning at her from ear to ear, "Aw, I know my way home, Sakura-chan...'sides, it feels good to run agai-" His words were cut short by a collision with a nearby fruit cart, sending oranges and melons scattering about the street. He sat up and sniffed the air before fumbling around and picking up a random piece. Sakura ran up and apologized quickly to the cart's owner before starting to help pick up. Naruto, in a rare flash of brilliance, realized what had happened and began to feel around for the scattered fruits. After their task was complete, Sakura grabbed hold of Naruto's hand and tugged him along.

"You're not leaving my side until we get home, got it? No more running into things," she scolded, gripping his hand tighter. This had to have been one of the best forms of punishment he'd ever fallen victim to and tried to hide the smirk on his face as they walked hand in hand back to the apartment. All the while, the chatty housewives of the neighborhood giggled behind their laundry, admiring what a cute couple the two had turned out to be.

Their return to the apartment was brief and with good reason, as Sakura's announcement of their afternoon training session/picnic set Naruto into a hyperactive frenzy of anticipation and restlessness. She had their lunches packed up in a short time and they nearly ran to the old training grounds of team seven. The well worn stumps and straw dummies there were a sad reminder of the time when there used to be four of them standing in that field. Even Naruto could tell that the place had a gloomy atmosphere, despite the warm sunlight that bathed the grounds. Sakura sat their lunches down in the shade of a nearby tree and cleared the tension with a few good kicks to one of the nearby logs. "Ok, Naruto, we'll start with some basic strength practice, nothing accurate, just enough to get your muscles back into the routine, okay?" No sooner were the words out of her mouth and Naruto was busy making fresh dents in the log before her. "How'd you know where to strike?" she questioned, amazed that he was able to connect with such accuracy when he was previously standing at least 20 feet away from his target.

"I heard you kicking it, and figured that was the target, so I just followed the sound and jumped on it," he replied, using a strong kick to launch himself off the log and into the air, only to land with his palms on the ground and allow his feet to connect simultaneously with a loud crack to the old stump.

Sakura shook her head in disbelief, this was the very same kind of sensing she was reading about in the books Tsunade had lent her. Naruto, while being difficult at first, was starting to rehabilitate on his own. He had naturally started to rely on his other senses to compensate for his vision loss, and was apparently doing so rather well. She decided she'd step it up another level, just to see how well he was adjusting. "How about we try some hand-to-hand combat, see how sharp you can still be without your eyes?"

Her tone was almost slightly mocking, a challenge if he ever heard one. Naruto grinned, "All right, but no holding back on me just because I can't see!" He barely finished his sentence before lunging at the sound of her voice and nearly connecting a hit to her shoulder. She dodged to the left, rolling a few feet before getting to her feet behind him and throwing a kick at his side. His hand shot out and grabbed her ankle before it connected, pulling her off balance and sending her head first toward the ground. She hit the ground palms first and held the rest of her body up enough to swing her free leg around and pull his feet out from under him. In a second, they were laying in a tangled heap in the dust, panting and laughing at the same time.

"Not bad for your first time back out," she chided, shoving him off her and brushing the dirt from her clothes. He rolled over and stared blankly up at the sun, scratching his stomach in an unspoken gesture that Sakura had come to identify with his near endless appetite. She pulled herself from the ground and grabbed his arm at the elbow, tugging him to his feet so they could move to the shade and eat lunch.

"This is really nice, Sakura-chan." Naruto managed to get out between bites of food.

"Well, I figured this was a good idea to get you back on your feet after being out of it for so long." She replied, picking some stray rice off his cheek.

"Not just the training, I mean being out here with you. I missed you during my training...and at first, I thought when we got back that you'd miss being a team with Sasuke and all. But I'm really glad it's just you and me today." Naruto. Always so blunt and open, and this time it caused Sakura to blush just a bit. How was it that he could read her so well? She had missed their old training days, could even visualize the time they had Naruto tied to a log as she and Sasuke ate their reward for obtaining a bell from the intimidating Kakashi. But those old memories weren't so important or nearly as painful now that she was sitting there enjoying the day with Naruto. She leaned back against the tree and tried to remember ever feeling so at ease, especially around the orange-clad teammate whose energy and annoyingness seemed to know no bounds. Her mind drifted until his voice snapped her back to reality.

"Sakura-chan, if you're not going to finish that, can I?" he pleaded, chopsticks already making their way to a piece of chicken. She smiled, handing the box over without even bothering to wonder how he knew she didn't eat all of her lunch. Yes, his senses of smell and hearing were definitely making up for the vision loss. 


	5. Just a Little Kindling

Title: Blind To It Before Rating: R (for now)  
Warnings: None yet

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Chapter 5 √ Just a Little Kindling

It wasn't until the second week of Naruto's rehabilitation that Jiraiya had decided to pay a visit to his most recent pupil. He grinned lecherously at the apron-clad Sakura who was washing a collection of ramen bowls but was distracted by a well-aimed teacup to the temple. Rubbing the sore spot and retreating from the kitchen, the ero-sennin made his way into the living room where Naruto was laying on the floor pulling himself up for what was apparently his three hundred and second sit up, a Gai-esque training session if he had ever seen one.

"Three-oh-three, three-oh-four...hey, ero-sennin...three-oh-five, three-oh-six..." Naruto trailed on and on, not bothering to pause in his set.

Jiraiya took a seat on the nearby chair to lazily watch his student nearly killing himself with mundane exercises. "You can start calling me Jiraiya any day now. And how'd you know it was me, anyway?"

Naruto paused and looked blankly in his direction, "You smell like sake, women's perfume, and that tobacco Gamabunta smokes. Besides, your sandals are noisy, and Sakura doesn't throw teacups at just anyone...mostly me."

The Sennin grinned and laughed a bit, "Well, it seems that you're recovering quite well despite the vision loss. Well done my boy, didn't think you had the intelligence to refine your other senses this quickly." His tone lowered as he leaned in closer to whisper to Naruto, "But how'd you like a little technique to help speed things along, or at least provide some temporary help while Tsunade works on fixing your problem, eh?" With that, he pulled out the scroll that he originally presented to the Hokage before she deemed it his duty to handle the contents.

Naruto grinned and jumped up from his place on the floor, "A new jutsu? All right! Sakura-chan, we're going training! Ero-sennin has a new jut-"

He was cut off abruptly by Jiraiya's hand clamping over his mouth, "Idiot! Don't tell her what we're doing. Just, let me handle this." He released the squirming boy and walked back into the kitchen, thankful that Sakura had become increasingly less attentive to Naruto's outbursts. "Oh Sakura-chan," he purred, turning on his infamous charm, "I'll be taking Naruto for the rest of the afternoon. Tsunade's orders. We should hopefully be back this evening, don't hold dinner up for us."

Sakura nodded, smiling at the lack of obvious perversion in their current encounter. Still, that set off a new warning light in her head...why was Jiraiya being so polite and honest all of a sudden? However, little nagging issues like that had no place in her head at the moment, as she was already contemplating how nice an evening at home without Naruto to keep an eye on would be. This must be how parents feel when they get a babysitter for the night, she thought, remembering her previous jobs taking care of the offspring of her neighbors as they went out for some private time. "Of course, Jiraiya-sama," she smiled, placing the last dish back into the cabinet.

Jiraiya placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and steered him out of the apartment, making sure he had tucked the scroll back into his vest, lest Sakura notice what they were up to. Minutes later, the pair was standing in one of the forbidden training grounds of Konoha village, access having been immediately granted to one of the Legendary Three. It was in this secluded area that Jiraiya unfolded the scroll and began to detail the contents to his eager student.

"Now Naruto, this is a powerful form of ninjutsu that requires a lot of concentration and...are you paying attention?" Jiraiya questioned, noticing Naruto's wandering head and he picked up various scents and sounds from the area.

"Yeah yeah, I heard you...ninjutsu, concentration...can we just get started already?" Naruto whined, grabbing for the scroll he had heard being placed on the ground before him.

"Idiot," Jiraiya mumbled as he smacked Naruto lightly across the top of the head, "how do you expect to learn the seals when you can't even see the scroll? You don't even know what you're learning yet. Now sit still, pay attention, and you'll be doing this in no time."

The two sat well into the fading twilight, going over the hand seals required to begin the technique. Jiraiya started by listing off the forms, Tiger, Crane, Monkey, but noticed that Naruto had obviously been a visual learner when it came to seals and therefore had to retrain him by moving his hands into each position while naming them aloud until he finally caught on. After covering the seals, Naruto had to breathe deeply and focus his chakra into a light field surrounding his body. Anything within the radius of the field would immediately be covered with a thin layer of chakra and therefore take a physical shape. It was as if he was covering the world around him with a sheet to outline the objects around him. With enough concentration, he could relay the objects his chakra covered back into his brain and paint a rough outline of the area around him. Hours later, when the moon was full in the air and Jiraiya was nearly falling asleep from boredom, Naruto had successfully been able to prove his competency with the technique through various counting exercises involving sets of kunai and shuriken placed before him. As a final test, Jiraiya tossed a few at him, which he was successfully able to dodge even with his ears having been plugged with cotton a few tests prior.

Naruto flopped back on the grass panting slightly, "I think I've got it pretty well, ero-sennin." he mumbled, scratching his dinner-lacking stomach.

Jiraiya nodded his approval and gathered the scroll back into his vest. "Well done, Naruto. I think this should help keep you in higher spirits while Tsunade works on getting your real sight back. In the meantime, you may want to think about the more...interesting nuances of having lost your sight. Don't rely on this technique all the time now, there may be some times when not knowing what's coming is more exciting. You might not want to tell Sakura about your newfound skill just yet." He winked, even though the boy would never see it, and gave his famous lecherous grin. Naruto was of course, oblivious to the entire exchange, words and gestures, and bluntly questioned his teacher.

"What do you mean? Not being able to see is one of the biggest handicaps a ninja can have! Without my sight, it's going to be a million times harder to become Hokage! Of course, I'll still do it, but it's gonna be way harder now! How can being blind ever be exciting? Why can't Sakura know?"

Jiraiya shook his head and pushed the fidgeting blonde ahead of him back to the apartment. He needed to learn that unlike some of his former students, Naruto wasn't so quick to come to perverse conclusions as he was to anything Hokage-related. Still, he had confidence that eventually, whether it be a restless night where he found himself just feet away from his pink-haired teammate or during a relaxing trip to the bathhouse after a day of training with his private nurse, Naruto would eventually get the perverted Sennin's real reason of teaching him that particular ninjutsu. Hopefully he'd also get his more subtle reference of excitement in the dark; he chuckled, remembering the many nights he had found himself in the more sleazy parts of town with silk bandannas tied across his eyes. Naruto may be dense and short-sighted, but he figured no man could resist the allure of a beautiful woman and the promise that the only thing you were certain of in regards to the upcoming events was uncertainty.

As Naruto entered the apartment he shared with Sakura, he tried out his newfound skill and found it ten times easier to navigate the apartment than it had been hours prior. He listened for sounds of his teammate and was greeted by low humming in the bedroom. Following his chakra-outlined path, he made his way into the bedroom only to find himself visualizing the outline of a very curvy and almost certainly naked Sakura. She was seated on the bed brushing out her hair which was freshly damp from a trip to the bath when he had walked in. He flailed a bit, turning away and nearly running into the doorframe, apologizing quickly. She looked up, quite puzzled that he would've reacted in such an embarrassed manner, as it was common for her to be found in that position after a bath. She had stopped being cautious about nudity around him since it was quite obvious it made no difference to his sightless eyes. "Naruto, what's wrong?" she questioned, pulling her robe on just for security.

"I-I didn't know you weren't dressed, and I just walked in, and..." he trailed off, fearing another blow to the head.

"How did you know?" Sakura muttered, a skeptical tone in her voice.

"T-the...umm...shampoo, yeah. I could smell that you just got back from the bath, and I just assumed that you'd be naked after that, and so...umm..." he stammered, trying to excuse his strange behavior.

A moment of silence passed before she stood to get her pajamas. "Okay, I guess that makes sense," she said, walking into the bathroom to change just in case there really was something going on. Naruto sighed and changed into his own sleepwear, crawling into his bed silently and waiting for the click of the light to signal that they were done discussing things for the night. He heard the rustle of her sheets and the slow, steady breathing coming from the bed next to him and knew that she was asleep. He sat up and silently activated the chakra technique, outlining her sleeping form on the bed. As he studied the delicate features of her face, and eventually her pajama-clad body, he began to understand just a little of what the ero-sennin was saying about the more interesting uses of the technique. The more pressing realization he came to that evening was how much prettier Sakura had grown up to be. Maybe it was just the age they were at, or maybe it was because that was the first time they had been separated for more than a few days since becoming a team, or maybe it was just that without seeing anything for nearly three weeks at that point, she was all the more a welcome sight to sightless eyes.

Naruto laid back down, breaking the ninjutsu and letting his body and chakra rest for the night. Tomorrow was another day to work on his newly acquired means of perception. 


	6. That Glow on the Horizon

Title: Blind To It Before Rating: R (for now)  
Warnings: None yet

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Chapter 6 √ That Glow on the Horizon

"Mission? Mission, all right!" Naruto exclaimed as soon as the word had escaped from Sakura's lips. She sighed and drooped her head in defeat, there was no way to get a word in edgewise for at least two or three minutes while Naruto did his "We got a new mission" dance. When he did his second back flip off the couch, she promptly pulled him down into a seat and cleared her throat.

"Calm down or else I'll ask her to assign this to someone else," Sakura scoffed, knowing full well which buttons to push to calm him down. Threats of altering his recovery reports seemed to be about the only thing that worked lately, as they were a sure fire way to put a stop to any normal ninja duties the Hokage may deem Naruto to be ready for. He sat and listened patiently, or as patiently as Naruto could manage, as Sakura revealed the mission details.

"We're going on a little journey into Grass Country. A lot of the time will be spent in travel, since it's a good three days across Fire Country just to get to the border, then another day and a half to get to the town we're looking for. Once in that town, we're to seek out a man named Saizuchi who is rumored to have taken refuge in the village. Now, Saizuchi is a very-"

"Yeah yeah, wanted man, bring him back to Konoha, got it, let's go!" Naruto shouted as he jumped up and made for the bedroom. He wasn't about to question why he was being allowed to go on a mission when Tsunade's orders had been to not allow him back into active duty until his eyes were healed. A quick foot out to his ankle and he was flat on the floor, a sandal planted firmly on his back to hold him there.

"Would you LISTEN for once? Honestly, it's amazing we ever got anything done when we were on missions before. And this isn't a normal mission," she let the pressure off his back and allowed Naruto to assume his trademark scowling position: legs crossed, arms folded, and eyes squinted shut in defiance. She sat back down and continued the details. "Now as I was SAYING...Saizuchi is a very secluded individual, most of the normal villagers don't know he lives there, and those that do keep quiet about it. So the majority of the time we're spending there will be on earning the trust of those that can help us locate him. I assume you realize that this will take patience and cunning...two things you lack, Naruto."

His scowl deepened as she hit a weak spot, "You don't have to be so mean about it, Sakura-chan. And if everyone is so confident I suck at undercover operations, why is Old Lady Tsunade sending me?"

"That's because Saizuchi could be the key to restoring your sight. He was originally a medic-nin from Sound that went missing when he realized that their research of audio waves was being used for more harm than good. He's been hiding in the smaller countries lately, last reports say he was in Grass Country and that's why we're going. If we can get him to see you, he may be able to restore the nerves and recover your sight. So there's your incentive, if you can play along well enough, you have a better chance at getting fixed. Got it?" Naruto nodded, suddenly dumbstruck by the flood of information just handed to him.

"So, while we're there...what's our cover?" he questioned, showing the first sign of intelligent interest in the mission since he found out it was more recon than combat.

"The obvious, we're a young couple who heard there was a man in town that could restore sight to the blind. You were injured in a construction accident when a chemical splashed into your eyes and left you sightless. Of course, Saizuchi will see through this excuse in a minute, since the damage was done by sound, but the story is only needed to convince the villagers so they'll lead us to him. Tsunade-sama has prepared a letter that will apparently convince Saizuchi to fix you no matter what."

Sakura stood and grabbed Naruto by the shoulder and dragged him into the bedroom. She fumbled through the closet and grabbed their travel gear, tossing his pack into his lap. "Pack more for blending in with normal civilians, not for combat, since we're using civilian roads we shouldn't meet any resistance except maybe a little at the border."

Within the hour, the pair was packed and walking through the Konoha gates, Naruto going more at a fast jog than Sakura's leisurely stroll. He would zip ahead of her twenty or thirty feet, then run backwards, and continue until he finally realized she was in no hurry to get to their destination. Already frustrated, he huffed and matched her pace, realizing now why a normal day and a half journey to the border was going to take them three.

After moving at a leisurely snail's pace, the pair had arrived at the Fire/Grass border, which was never heavily patrolled since there were no outstanding feuds between the two countries. However, today was not their lucky day, as no sooner did they approach the dividing line only to be met with an ultimatum.

"State your business or prepare to turn back now," the voice echoed from the trees.

"My name is Ayaka Kazami and this is my boyfriend, Shuji, we come from a village in Fire Country. We're traveling to visi-" Her story was cut short by a flying kunai thrown by her own teammate toward a group of trees. There was a strangled gasp and a body fell from where the kunai had been aimed, followed by the similar thuds of two other bodies hitting the ground. The first one did not get up, but the other two leapt out at Sakura and Naruto as soon as they hit the dirt, kunai drawn and ready to attack. Before she could even react, Naruto was heading at them full speed with a pair of clones close at his sides. Within seconds, the other two ninja had been reduced to the ground as their comrade had been and Naruto stood grinning triumphantly over them.

His celebration was cut short as Sakura whacked him over the head and dragged him off. "Honestly, Naruto, I think our story could have been adequate enough to insure passage...we're not on hostile terms with Grass right now, they were just being cautious." She sighed, "Now to explain to the Hokage why she's getting reports of border patrol officers being assaulted..." 


	7. Daybreak

Title: Blind To It Before Rating: R (for now)  
Warnings: None yet

Notes: Here ends the revision. From here on out, those of you who previously supported this story will find nothing but fresh, new material! Thanks for sticking around! For those of you just joining us, thank you for coming and I hope you enjoy the rest of the show!

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Chapter 7 √ Daybreak

They entered the village with little fanfare; it was a quiet town, devoid of anything outstanding to make it any sort of target for hostility, which was why it was a perfect venue for a hermit such as Saizuchi. Sakura made quick work of establishing them in the area, finding an inn that would accept them for an extended stay. Their room was small but adequate, and the innkeeper, although quick to assure them he knew no one in the area fitting Saizuchi's credentials, was helpful and friendly to the young couple.

Their first day was spent getting to know the lay of the land. There were the usual small stores, the open market area, the residential area, and a small town square. Medical care was a touchy subject in the village, as they relied on traveling doctors to help their sick and injured, much to the delight of Sakura who could put her medic-nin skills to use, saying she was a nurse-in-training back in her home village. This simple offering of services to the villagers was more than enough to earn the pair a status of exalted guests in the eyes of the locals, and they found it much easier to ask questions once Sakura began her work.

The second day, after having treated several ailing villagers, Sakura collapsed on their small bed, too exhausted at first to realize Naruto scowling at the small table in the corner. After a few minutes of blissful silence, Sakura turned to her companion, "You're bored, aren't you?"

"Of course I'm bored!" Naruto yelled, almost angry at the blatantly obvious statement. "I sit here all day unable to train or anything to keep our cover, while you're out there healing people and at least doing SOMETHING useful."

She sighed, knowing full well that this was another battle with a 6-year-old she was entering. "Naruto, I already explained that you have to lay low while we're here. You're supposed to be injured, and letting you out into the village alone with your enhanced senses will only make the villagers suspicious. No ordinary person has the ability to adapt as well as you do, thanks to Kyuubi...they'll see that we're not normal civilians in no time. You just have to be patient, I think I have an old woman who knows where to find Saizuchi. I was treating her arthritis today and spoke to her about you, when I visit tomorrow I'll try to get more information out of her."

His head slumped in defeat. As usual, Sakura was right about everything, and she WAS trying to help him out. Before the conversation could continue, there was a knock at the door and the innkeeper's wife entered with a tray of food. 

"I heard some yelling, I hope you two aren't having a lovers' quarrel," she chuckled, setting the tray down at the table Naruto was sitting at. He sniffed the air and grinned, grabbing the chopsticks and digging into the bowl of rice and pork cutlet that had been placed before him. The woman looked a little shocked at his effortless handling of the dishes given the boy had claimed to be blind.

Sakura immediately picked up on the innkeeper's wife's concern and spoke up, "He's gotten really good at eating since that's one of his favorite pastimes." 

The woman chuckled and picked the empty tray back up, "I know how they get at that age. I had a son just like him, almost ate me out of house and home. I'll be back later to see if you need seconds."

When the door was secure, Sakura threw a pillow at his head, effectively hitting him mid-bite. "You idiot!" she screamed, "At least try and act the part of a blind civilian when others are around!"

He grumbled and picked up the bowl of miso soup, slurping it down in one gulp. "I'll start acting like the poor disabled boyfriend when you start acting like a concerned girlfriend," he grumbled.

Sakura sat there in utter shock. Had Naruto just talked back to her? Normally he would just take it in stride, either acting like a kicked puppy or just grinning it off. But apparently nearly three years with Jiraiya had earned him a sharper tongue, a likely trait the older Sennin learned from his own interactions with Tsunade. She couldn't help but notice the tinge of sadness in his voice at the mention of their cover story.

Her musing was cut short as the innkeeper's wife knocked again, letting herself in with another bowl of rice and some pickled vegetables. "I forgot my manners earlier, my name is Kaiede. If the two of you need anything else, please let me know."

Sakura stood and thanked her profusely for her hospitality and took the dishes from her hands, placing them on the table with her own meal and seating herself across from Naruto. Before he could reach for the bowl of rice, she slapped his hands lightly and took the chopsticks from them, "Here darling, let me feed you," she said, the words laced with sincerity but a hint of spite. He grinned and excitedly opened his mouth as she roughly shoved a pickled radish in. Kaiede smiled, obviously pleased with the couple's display, and left them alone.

The door shut once more, Sakura sighed in relief that their story was still kept intact. "That was close. We're going to have to be careful around nosy-types like her."

Naruto just sat there chewing, the biggest smirk ever plastered across his face, "Now this I could get used to. Can I have a piece of carrot next, DARLING?"

Sakura nearly threw the chopsticks like a pair of senbon at him, but just shoved them back into his hands. "Since you're apparently skilled enough to grab and eat when our hostess is in the room, keep at it," she retorted, picking into her own dinner as Naruto dejectedly continued with his own food.

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Later that night, they lay back to back in the small bed, Naruto softly snoring away while Sakura laid there contemplating their situation. She had a good lead, and was starting to be well-trusted by the villagers, so getting information shouldn't be an issue. But why was she so worried? Naruto mumbled in his sleep and wiggled a bit before settling back down. It was then that she realized that he was her worry. First there was his perfect navigation of the dishes and chopsticks on the table, and then his snappy display before and after Kaiede's second visit. The latter she could definitely chalk up to spending too much time with Jiraiya, but the former still had her perplexed. Even with his heightened senses, he should have fumbled around for things just a bit more. This WAS Naruto, who had all the table manners of an elephant, yet he was able to pick up his chopsticks and bowl without knocking over any other items in the process.

His earlier expression of disappointment at her lack of "girlfriend-like" behavior had her vexed as well. She knew this was going to be difficult, taking up such a cover story given his prior affections toward her. Shinobi were always trained to handle this sort of cover mission, and of course when they were on duty, they were compliant with their guise, acting just as boyfriend and girlfriend would. However, in their private quarters, such as that evening when the pretense could be dropped, that was when issues arose. There was always the danger of taking your role too serious, and she feared Naruto was doing just that.

It was then that a part of her mind that had lain dormant for quite some time spoke up. What was so bad about having Naruto as your boyfriend anyway? His training with Jiraiya, as well as the obvious few years he had gained, had done wonders for him both physically and mentally. He had certainly matured from the bratty prankster he once was, and had toned down that whiny voice of his...well, at least since the accident. But she figured that having your sight taken away with only a chance at restoration would make anyone cranky. The Naruto that laid next to her now was more focused on reality, even as he held on to his aspirations of becoming Hokage one day. The loss of his best friend and rival had somehow ironically improved his behavior. Instead of focusing on the Hokage ideal, which was pretty ambiguous as to how one went about doing so, his focus was solely on the retrieval of Sasuke, which was a much smaller series of paths to take. It was a pity that he had to divert his attentions now to restoring his damaged sight before resuming the search.

Her musings ran rampant in her head, analyzing the young man that now slept soundly beside her, until her brain finally tired itself and gave way to slumber. Finally, she had concluded that she was definitely being too harsh on her partner, and perhaps another shot was in order. The Uchiha was obviously not going to come back without a fight, and she was certain that even if they got him back in the condition he left them, he was certainly not going to extend open arms to her and begin talks of restoring his clan. It was time she gave Naruto a chance for real. 


	8. A Light to Travel By

Title: Blind To It Before  
Rating: R (for now)  
Warnings: None yet 

Notes: I'm amazed at how many of you have started adding my story to your story alert (or at least ff.n started recently telling me about it). It helps urge me on to write more knowing people are eagerly awaiting another chapter. Thanks to all the reviewers as well!

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Chapter 8 - A Light to Travel By

Naruto could tell by the way that Sakura entered the room and started pulling out what sounded like their traveling packs that something was up. Pausing in his push-up regime, he sat up cross-legged and tilted his head in the direction of the sound.

"Sakura-chan, are we going somewhere?" he questioned, slightly unaware that the less civilian items they had brought were being packed into bags as he spoke.

Sakura paused and flashed him a smile that he unfortunately couldn't see, "Remember how I told you I had a lead? Well, the old woman, who's now walking much better thanks to my skills, said the village was plagued with a mysterious illness a few years back. When the normal traveling medics couldn't do anything for them, and money was too tight to send for a specialist, the village agreed that they needed to call in a favor. Apparently Saizuchi lives in the mountains separating Grass from Earth. Since this is the closest village to him, he has to rely on it for basic supplies."

She continued packing and discussing Saizuchi's situation, mentioning how he had struck a deal with the villagers exchanging their silence about his whereabouts for the promise that in the face of a medical crisis he would attend to their sick. Her information was vague without much to go on except small mentions of prior healing techniques he had used. Most of this information went in one ear and out the other with Naruto, having never been the one for intelligence analysis.

In the midst of his teammate's rambling, Naruto spoke up, "That's all great, Sakura-chan, but you haven't told me the most important part. WHERE exactly is this guy?"

The final bag was zipped and Sakura's hand rested upon it, "Well, that's the challenge. To remain faithful to their promise, the village can't tell us where. It was asking a lot just to get the information that he's up in the mountains. I've packed us for a week up there, I'm placing my faith in your heightened sense of smell and hearing that we can track him down in that time." She sighed, slipping her kunai holster under her dress and attaching it to her leg, "I wish Kakashi-sensei were here with Pakkun, or Shino with his kikai...it would make things so much easier."

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It was a day's travel before they reached the base of the mountain range they would call home for the next 6 days. It was nowhere as steep or treacherous as some of the areas they had braved in past missions to Earth country, but with the last breath of summer fading into chilly fall winds, the elements were going to have fun with them. Hopping up onto a small hill, Sakura looked around from her vantage point to find nothing but brown and gray for hundreds of miles, spotted only here and there by sparse groupings of green trees and blue lakes. At least it was a habitable area, she mused, sighing as she picked her pack back up and looked down to where Naruto stood.

"Can you sense anyone?" she questioned, noting that he was at least cooperating and playing the temporary role of tracking dog.

"I can tell there's been people here before, not too recently, maybe a week ago or so, but the trails are stronger leading into the mountain range and weaker out here, meaning they came in from the village rather than out to it. So either someone returned, or someone entered and has yet to leave."

She smiled, impressed that he was taking this all so seriously, but then again it was his recovery on the line, so he should be putting in 110 of his effort into finding this guy. Naruto hopped up to stand next to her and sniffed at the air, his head moving slightly with the wind. Sakura was no slouch either, feeling out for any human chakra signatures that would give way to the presence of others. Not knowing how secluded Saizuchi wanted to stay, she couldn't guarantee he wouldn't suppress his chakra, but it was worth a shot.

Suddenly, Naruto jerked his head to the west, "That way, whoever came up this way headed in that direction."

The pair took off into a sprint, heading deeper into the rocky terrain as the sun dipped low on the horizon. As they got further into the mountainous area, the warming light was obscured by rocky peaks, and the temperature dropped the further in they traveled. Soon, twilight was upon them and Sakura was finding it difficult to keep alert of where she was running. Naruto, while being bereft of all sight, was somehow handling the often treacherous footpath with amazing skill. As they scaled a small cropping of rocks, they came upon one of the small tree groves near a stream.

"I think this would be a good place to rest for the night." Sakura called out, halting Naruto in his tracks. She jumped down off a rock and landed on a nearby tree branch, shaking a few terrified squirrels from their leafy perch. With plentiful water and animal life in the area, she could tell how Saizuchi could survive in this area without having to make too many trips out to the village. On their short journey, they had already seen some small game animals, and enough grass and water sources to promote larger animals to live in the area as well. As she picked their campsite for the evening, she reasoned that with enough field hunting skills, a person could easily live in the area for years without drawing much attention or scaring off the food sources.

As if on cue, Naruto hopped down from the trees holding a pair of well fed rabbits who had met their death at the hands of one demon-fox infused shinobi. Sakura grimaced, she hated the task of preparing wild game for meals while they were on the road. She much preferred to eat the standard travel rations that they consumed during urgent missions when they couldn't afford to stop and make more elaborate meals, rather than catching and preparing dead forest creatures. Still, she knew what had to be done, and it was tastier and more filling than soldier pills or dehydrated fruit, so she went about getting the cooking supplies ready. As the small travel kettle came out of her bag along with a stew pot and various knives, she noticed Naruto grabbing the skinning knife out of the corner of her eye. Her preparations were halted as she watched, unknown to him, as he effortlessly skinned, cleaned, and prepared the rabbits for cooking, doing an even better job at it than she would have.

"How did you do that so well?" Sakura questioned, taking the neatly de-boned meat chunks and tossing them into the pot along with some seasoning packets and water from the river.

Naruto grinned, "Oh that? Ero-senin didn't just take me from village to village, we spent a lot of time out in the woods when there wasn't any towns nearby. He taught me to catch, clean and cook just about anything."

Sakura shook her head, "I mean how did you do it so well without being able to see? I can't even clean one rabbit that fast, let alone two AND with my sight." She narrowed her eyes at him for a second, "Are you SURE you really can't see?"

He chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head, "Aw, of course Sakura-chan, you heard Old Lady Tsunade herself, my nerves are melted or something. I guess I just got really used to it, second nature or something..."

Still skeptical, she leaned in close, grabbing one of his squinted eyes and prying it open wider, flashing her small medic pen light into the pupil and waiting for a reaction. When she got nothing, she sighed, her parted lips just inches from his, breath hitting his cheek lightly and causing Naruto to swallow the nervous lump in his throat. She stared at him for a second longer, the only noise coming from the crackling fire to their left. He had really changed in those two and a half years, with his face having lost the baby fat of his youth and hardened into more deep, masculine features. Ever present were the whisker-like markings on his face, a trait uniquely Naruto, just adding to his handsome features. Wait, handsome? Had Sakura just been eyeing up her teammate? Her train of thought, along with open gawking of her partner, were interrupted by the whistle of the kettle, signaling that the water was ready for re-hydrating the dried vegetables she had brought out.

She snapped out of her daze and turned back to the fire to finish preparing their meal, while Naruto finally un-tensed and slumped his shoulders, thankful that she was no longer looking him over like some sort of medical specimen. With dinner cooked and served, they ate in silence, Naruto still worried that his chakra-vision had been discovered, and Sakura still irked about his previous demonstration of skill. They cleaned up the campsite in silence as well, until finally as they were setting the tent up for the night, Naruto spoke.

"There's more than one, y'know," he began, rolling out his sleeping bag on one side of the small tent. "There were at least three different people coming in this way, traveled as a group. I don't think it's Saizuchi we're tracking, unless he's got buddies up here."

Sakura sat down on the log beside their dying fire and poked at the burning coals with a stick, "Well, maybe he has family living with him? I'd imagine it would be lonely, he could have companions."

"Or someone else could be searching for him, too," Naruto added, crawling back out of the tent. "Do we need to take watches tonight just in case? Whoever else is out here may not be too friendly, especially if they're after the same target we are."

She shook her head, "No, I don't think so. The villagers are the only ones who know where he is, and I doubt they'd send anyone hostile up to their only medic. Lets just get some sleep now and set out early tomorrow, if there really is another group looking for Saizuchi, we need to beat them to him and make sure we get you taken care of first."

With that, she crawled into the tent and stretched out on her sleeping bag, Naruto following at her heels to his own bed for the evening. As the last glow of their fire died out, the two were unaware of two pairs of eyes glued to their campsite from the cliffs above.

"Fuckin-a...Ichiro, there's only two!"

"Only two? Man, and I was ready for a good fight!"

"They don't seem hostile, San. We're watching them for now."

"But the Old Bastard said to keep everyone out, I say we have a little fun and do our job."

Coal black eyes looked up to the twins on the rock above, "I said we're watching them for now." His tone took on a dangerous level and at once the pair knew the one they called 'Ichiro' was laying down the law. The girl, San, huffed and leaned back from her crouching position over the cliff, sitting cross-legged next to her twin brother, Jiro. She pouted and crossed her arms, fidgeting a bit as her brother kept watch over the pair below. Ichiro sat against a rock, arms folded over his chest and eyes closed in contemplation, or maybe he had fallen asleep. San glared at him, toying with some small pebbles at her feet, and then shifted her gaze back to Jiro who was still peering over the cliff at the campsite, his shorts riding low on his backside. San smirked and picked up a few pebbles, taking aim at the small gap between his skin and clothing and started to play target practice with her brother's shorts. After a few successful hits, Jiro took notice and whirled around,

"Damnit, San! What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm bored!" she whined, dropping the rest of the projectiles before she got in trouble.

Ichiro sighed, "Why Master ever rescued you two, I'll never know. With that, he stood and peered down over the cliff to the oblivious couple beneath them. "They're too far into the mountains to be normal civilians on a little getaway. They don't have any village affiliations apparent, but many of those tools are standard shinobi travel equipment. They may be spies, or missing-nin. We're going to go report this to Master and see what he thinks."

He took off for the horizon, heading toward another group of trees upstream and causing the twins to scramble up and run after their leader. Once they caught up, Jiro huffed out his opinion,

"That guy down there, he showed some skill with that knife. The chick ain't nothing normal, either, she took down a tree to use as a bench and firewood in one punch."

"I could take her!"

"Shut up, San. Ichiro, I think they've got some sort of training under their belts and I say we deal with them now. Catch them in their sleep, fuck them up royally now before they have a chance to get at the Old Bastard and we have to mess up shit near home."

"Jiro, what did I tell you about your vulgarity? Especially in front of your younger sister."

"I'm only three minutes younger!"

The trio continued bickering all the way back to their home, a series of caves nestled in the side of a rather impressive mountain face. Ichiro walked up to the entrance and performed a series of hand seals, placing his hand on the side of the opening to disarm the barrier that had been placed during their absence. He entered the main opening while Jiro and San took the smaller entrances to either side, the paths winding and dimly lit until they all converged into one central room. The trio stood before a large stone door with a strange marking carved into it. Their fingertips touched the three small circles in the middle and as each one sent a small wave of chakra into the rock, the illusion faded and they were granted access into their living quarters.

In the corner of the room sat a man scribbling notes in a scroll and surrounded by various other texts and study materials. He paused in his writing, pushing his glasses up on his nose and turning to the three who had entered his room,

"Well? What brings you back?"

Ichiro cleared his throat, stepping forward and taking a slight bow toward his Master, "Saizuchi-sama, we may have visitors soon."

----------------------------

I'll leave it at there for now. I honestly was not going to go this far with OCs, as I usually don't like them, but I thought I'd try my hand at a bit of original content. Plus I really wanted to get some good fighting in...foreshadowing to the next chapter!


End file.
